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Reid guts Senate gun control bill
By Alexander Bolton and Jonathan Easley - 03/19/13 02:34 PM ET
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday he will not include a renewal of the federal assault weapons ban in a Senate gun control bill because it could not win even 40 votes on the Senate floor.
“Right now her amendment using the most optimistic numbers has less than 40 votes," Reid told reporters on Tuesday. "That’s not 60. I have to get something on the floor so we can have votes on that issue and the other issues we talked about."
Reid indicated a proposal sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to expand background checks to cover private gun sales would not make it in the base bill, either.
“There are a couple different background check proposals floating around,” Reid said. “All these issues are important and I’m going to do what I can to make sure we have a fair, sound debate on this but we can’t have it unless I have something that I can put on the floor to proceed to it.
“I’m not going to try to put something on the floor that won’t succeed. I want something that will succeed,” he added.
Reid said he needs at least five Republican votes to begin a floor debate on gun-violence legislation. He hopes to bring the gun control bill to the Senate floor after the Easter recess.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the sponsor of the assault weapons ban legislation, has been unable to find a Republican co-sponsor and talks between Schumer and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) on a bipartisan deal to expand background checks fell apart earlier this month.
There is bipartisan support for legislation authored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to crack down on the illegal trafficking of firearms.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the ranking Republican on Judiciary, have endorsed the gun trafficking legislation. It will likely serve as the foundation of gun-violence legislation
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/289037-senate-gun-bill-wont-include-assault-weapons-ban#ixzz2O1X9uFTu
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Just as I predicted- there was no way in He!! that Congress would pass any type of gun ban- and that rightwingernuts were wasting a lot of good Depends... :wink:
And this way- Reid takes the heat off a lot of folks of both parties...